六级阅读训练（1）Since its foundation in 1954, the United Nations has written into its major covenants(契约) the need to establish minimum ages for marriage. But the custom of marriage is a highly sensitive cultural issue, mainly because it is so unpleasantly invol ved with women’s rights and societal traditions and practices, and rules on marriage vary widely between countries. Some countries, particularly in West Africa, still do not have a legal minimum age for marriage.In the West, a 13-year-old is still conside red a child. Even getting married in one’s late teens is not usually encouraged because married life is likely to interfere with a young woman’s education and consequently restrict opportunities in later life. And there are also physical d angers in giving birth so young. The World Health Organization has over the past ten years identified early childbirth as a major cause of female mortality in many countries. Under Islamic religious law, the age of consent for sex and marriage is puberty, which Muslims say is in harmony with the biological transition from childhood into adulthood. In Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan, the age of puberty at around 13 or 14 is the legal age for marriage, but in Turkey it is 15, and in Egypt and Tunisia, 18 the same minimum age as in many Western countries. It is argued that by allowing earlier marriages, Islamic law is promoting stable relationships, while Western laws are encouraging promiscuity among young people.In many countries, the trends of urbanization and education for girls have seen a drop in the number of child brides. However, early marriages continue to occur in poor rural areas, where society works very much on personal arrangement between families, villages and communities. And it doesn’t only happen in countries which don’t have a legal minimum age. In India, for example, the legal age of marriage for a girl is 18 and to a boy, 21. Yet, according to government statistics, 18 percent of ten to fourteen-year old girls in the poor, rural state of Rajasthan in the northwest of the country are married. There are obvious social and economical advantages for doing this: by marrying off their daughters early, families no longer have to provide for them ; and the younger the bride the smaller the dowry(嫁妆), or wedding price, demanded by the groom’s family.It is clear, then, that child marriages are connected with poverty, lack of education and rural customs such as dowries; ther e don’t tend to be any child marriages in urban or rich areas. So, unless these real causes are addressed, it will be extremely hard to enforce change, even when change is dictated by a country’s governing body. (451 words)1. What is the topic of this passage?A. Child brides.B. Early marriages.C. Minimum age for marriage.D. Different attitudes towards early marriages.2. The word “promiscuity”(Line 9, Para. 3) means__.A. unstable partnershipB. firm partnershipC. diverse relationshipD. single relationship3. ____is likely to marry late.A. Women from less educated backgroundB. Women from rural areasC. Women from Islamic countriesD. Women from cities4. Child marriages are NOT related to __________according to the passage.A. social positionB. rural customsC. personal arrangementsD. religion5. According to the passage, getting married early does all of the following EXCEPT__________.A. reducing a young woman’s educationB. limiting a young woman’s chancesC. causing infant deathD. doing harm to a young woman’s health六级阅读训练（2）As you all know, the United States is a country on wheels. Nearly eight million new cars are made each year; four households out of five own at least one car, and more than a quarter have two each. Yet you’ll be surprised to learn that some of the car-owners even suffer from malnutrition（营养不良）. In 1968, a nation-wide survey of malnutrition was made for the first time. It found that 10 million people are suffering in health through inadequate feeding; the causes of their plight（困境）were varied. Unemployment over a long period should be considered as the main factor. And unemployment, strange to say, nine times out of ten results from automation, both in industrial and agricultural areas. For example, in the rural South when a cotton plantation suddenly cuts its force from 100 people to three, the problem to help the displaced arises. So is the case with industrial automation. In fact, probably 2 million jobs are made unnecessary each year in the whole country as a result of the automation process, thus making unemployment a chief social concern. According to government statistics, the number of people unemployed was over 5 percent for the period from 1958 to 1963. In July 1981, it rose to 7.8 percent. As a matter of fact, it has long been known that even during the most prosperous periods there have been people withoutenough to eat. So I think that’s why President Kennedy said in his inauguration speech in 1961, if the government did not hel p the poor, it could not save the rich.In 1966, the Social Security Administration calculated that a family of four needed an income of $3,355 a year to be above the line of poverty. And in 1977, the average poverty line of the country was slightly more than $6,200 annual income for a non-farm family of four. According to the Social Security Act, families of that size below poverty line are eligible to receive benefits from the special welfare program. The average weekly payment of benefits now is equivalent to 36 percent of the worker’s normal wage. And the number of people who receive government benefit s is increasing. In 1973, social insurance payments by governments, mainly to old age pensioners and people who had lost their jobs or were off work through illness, amounted to $86,000 million. Those not fully qualified for insurance payments received $29,000 million in public aid.But problems still exist. Many people are not reached by the anti-poverty program, because local authorities and agencies do not want to play their part or do not gave the resources to do so. Some poor people will not accept help for various reasons. Of course, there are some more important factors which lie in the structure of the society, but I don’t consider it necessary to dig into them here. Yet we will perhaps agree that social welfare programs have solved to some extent the problems of feeding, clothing and housing those below the poverty line. On the whole, it perhaps might be said that American people are living a better life than people in most other countries.1. The United States is called a country on wheels because______.A. about one-fourth Americans own two carsB. a bit over one out of four households are the owners of two carsC. nearly 8 million new cars drive in the country every yearD. 80% Americans have at least one car2. According to a 1968 survey, ten million Americans found themselves in a difficult health situation chiefly due to _______.A. inadequate feedingB. malnutritionC. unemploymentD. automation3. The author use ”the displaced”(Line 9, Para. 2) to refer to those who are _______.A. unemployedB. disabledC. sickD. poor4. The word “eligible”(Line 6, Para.3) is synonymous with “_______”A. necessaryB. urgentC. neededD. worthy5. Americans are living a better life than those in most of other countries because, to some degree, _____.A. many Americans receive benefits from the special welfare programB. some poor people can receive help for some reason or otherC. there is the anti-poverty program in the U.S.D. social welfare programs have some measure settled the problems of those below the poverty line.六级阅读训练（3）A scientific panel convened by the World Health Organization recommended guidelines on Friday for doctors conducting clinical studies of SARS patients. The panel urged doctors to apply the guidelines in analyzing the masses of potentially useful information about various therapies that were collected in this year’s epidemic. Much of that information has not been published or analyzed.“It is a matter of urgency to get better analysis and review,” said Dr. Simon Mardel, a WHO off icial who led the two-day meeting that ended on Friday. He said thousands of potential therapies and compounds had been tested so far as researchers try to determine treatments for SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. “We recognize that having no treatment for SARS is hindering our ability to control an epidemic in so many ways.” He said.In the epidemic earlier this year, various treatments, like drugs to fight the virus or strengthen the immune system, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, were delivered under emergency conditions, in widely different settings and countries to patients suffering from varying stages of the illness. Those conditions—generally without standardized measurements or controlled situations—have made it hard to interpret results.Standard supportive therapy like nursing, and in severe cases the use of mechanical respirators（呼吸器）to help patients breathe, is the mainstay （主要支持）of SARS care, and helped many patients survive. But doctors still do not know how best to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties. Dr. Mardel said. One method is invasive ventilation. A second method involves blowing oxygen into the lungs through a mask. Both carry the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employees. Without proper analysis, the panel was unable to say definitively which treatment worked best, or which caused the most harm. “There is a lack of shared information,” Dr. Mardel said, noting that a lot of data have not b een published.The panel also agreed on guidelines that would allow doctors to conduct quick and safe clinical trials, a process that generally takes years to complete. The world Health Organization, a United Nations agency did not release the guidelines. Dr. Mardel said they were flexible because no oneknew where, when and in what setting SARS would return. Experts in many countries have already listed the treatments they want to test, and the health agency is leaving these decisions to individual nations.1. Guidelines recommended by the scientific panel can be used for _____.A. gathering potentially useful information about various therapies collectedB. conducting clinical studies of SARS patientsC. determining treatment for SARSD. publishing all the information about SARS2. According to the passage, it is difficult to interpret the results of certain treatments for SARS because _____.A. patients were in different countriesB. patients were given medicines in widely different settingsC. patients were at different stages of the illnessD. these conditions had no standardized measurements or controlled situations3. According to doctors, the two methods to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties both _______.A. carry the risk of infecting hospital employeesB. are effective in curing patients who have breathing difficultiesC. don’t run the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employeesD. prove to work effectively and cause no harm4. According to a WHO official, Dr. Mardel, the guidelines were flexible because _____.A. SARS would reemerge in poor countriesB. no one knew where, when and in what setting SARS would returnC. SARS would not appear in developed countriesD. no one knew whether SARS would return or not5. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?A. SARS, a Dreadful DiseaseB. No Good Methods to Treat SARSC. SARS Will Return One DayD. Health Panel Recommends New Guidelines on SARS六级阅读训练（4）We all know that the normal human daily cycle of activity is of some 7-8 hours’ sleep alternation with some 16-17 hours’wakefulness and that, broadly speaking, the sleep normally coincides with the hours of darkness. Our present concern is with how easily and to what extent this cycle can be modified.The question is no mere academic one. The ease, for example, with which people can change from working in the day to working at night is a question of growing importance in industry where automation calls for round-the-clock working of machines. It normally takes from five days to one week for a person to adapt to a reversed routine of sleep and wakefulness, sleeping during the day and working at night. Unfortunately, it is often the case in industry that shifts are changed every week; a person may work from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 a.m. one week, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. the next, and 4:00p.m. to 12:00 midnight the third and so on. This means that no sooner has he got used to one routine than he has to change to another, so that much of his time is spent neither working nor sleeping very efficiently.The only real solution appears to be to hand over the night shift to a number of permanent night workers. An interesting study of the domestic life and health of night-shift workers was carried out by Brown in 1957. She found a high incidence of disturbed sleep and other disorders among those on alternating day and night shifts, but no abnormal occurrence of these phenomena among those on permanent night work.This latter system then appears to be the best long-term policy, but meanwhile something may be done to relieve the strains of alternate day and night work by selecting those people who can adapt most quickly to the changes of routine. One way of knowing when a person has adapted is by measuring his body temperature. People engaged in normal daytime work will have a high temperature during the hours of wakefulness and a low one at night; when they change to night work, the pattern will only gradually go back to match the new routine and the speed with which it does soparallels, broadly speaking, the adaptation of the body as a whole, particularly in terms of performance. Therefore, by taking body temperature at intervals of two hours throughout the period of wakefulness it can be seen how quickly a person can adapt to a reversed routine, and this could be used as a basis for selection. So far, however, such a form of selection does not seem to have been applied in practice.1. The main problem of the round-the-clock working system lies in _______.A. the disturbance of the daily cycle of workers who have to change shifts too frequentlyB. the inconveniences brought about to the workers by the introduction of automationC. the fact that people working at night are often less effectiveD. the fact that it is difficult to find a number of good night workers2. The best solution to implementing the 24-hour working system seems ___.A. to employ people who work on night shifts onlyB. to create better living conditions for night workersC. to change shifts at longer intervalsD. to have longer shifts3. Which of the following statements is NOT true?A. Body temperature may serve as an indication of a worker’s performance.B. The employment of permanent night shift workers seems to be the best solution to problems of the round-the-clock working system.C. Taking body temperature at regular intervals can show how a person adapts to the changes of routine.D. Disturbed sleep occurs more frequently among shift workers.4. It is possible to find out if a person has adapted to the changes of routine by measuring his body temperature because ________.A. body temperature changes when the cycle of sleep and wakefulness alternatesB. body temperature changes when he changes to night shift or backC. the temperature reverses when the routine is changed.D. people have higher temperature when they are working efficiently.5. The phrase “coincide with”(Line 3, Para.1) could best be replaced by ____.A. take placeB. agree withC. accord toD. take up六级阅读训练（5）Recent research has claimed that an excess of positive ions in the air can have an ill effect on people's physical or psychological health. What are positive ions？Well，the air is full of ions，electrically charged particles，and generally there is a rough balance between the positive and the negative charged. But sometimes this balance becomes disturbed and a larger proportion of positive ions are found. This happens naturally before thunderstorm，earthquakes when winds such as the Mistral，Hamsin or Sharav are blowing in certain countries. Or it can be caused by a build-up of static electricity indoors from carpets or clothing made of man-made fibres，or from TV sets，duplicators or computer display screens.When a large number of positive ions are present in the air many people experience unpleasant effects such as headaches，fatigue，irritability，and some particularly sensitive people suffer nausea or even mental disturbance. Animals are also affected，particularly before earthquakes，snakes have been observed to come out of hibernation，rats to flee from their burrows，dogs howl and cats jump about unaccountably. This has led the US Geographical Survey to fund a network of volunteers to watch animals in an effort to foresee such disasters before they hit vulnerable areas such as California.Conversely，when large numbers of negative ions are present，then people have a feeling of well-being. Natural conditions that produce these large amounts are near the sea，close to waterfalls or fountains，or in any place where water is sprayed，or forms a spray. This probably accounts for the beneficial effect of a holiday by the sea，or in the mountains with tumbling streams orTo increase the supply of negative ions indoors，some scientists recommend the use of ionisers：small portable machines，which generate negative ions. They claim that ionisers not only clean and refresh the air but also improve the health of people sensitive to excess positive ions. Of course，there are the detractors，other scientists，who dismiss such claims and are skeptical about negative/positive ion research. Therefore people can only make up their own minds by observing the effects on themselves，or on others，of a negative rich or poor environment. After all it is debatable whether depending on seismic readings to anticipate earthquakes is more effective than watching the cat.1.What effect does exceeding positive ionization have on some people？A.They think they are insane.B.They feel rather bad-tempered and short-fussed.C.They become violently sick.D.They are too tired to do anything.2.In accordance with the passage，static electricity can be caused by___.ing home-made electrical goods.B.wearing clothes made of natural materials.C.walking on artificial floor coverings.D.copying TV programs on a computer.3.A high negative ion count is likely to be found___.A.near a pound with a water pump.B.close to a slow-flowing river.C.high in some barren mountains.D.by a rotating water sprinkler.4.What kind of machine can generate negative ions indoors？B.Air-conditioners.C.Exhaust-fansD.Vacuum pumps.5.Some scientists believe that___.A.watching animals to anticipate earthquakes is more effective than depending on seismography.B.the unusual behavior of animals cannot be trusted.C.neither watching nor using seismographs is reliable.D.earthquake六级阅读训练（6）One of my favorite posters1 says, “ Life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been a real life you would have been instruct ed where to go and what to do.” Whenever I think of this humorous bit of wisdom2, it reminds me to not take my life so serio usly.When you look at life and its many challenges as a test, or series of tests, you begin to see each issue you face as an opportunity to grow, a chance to discover more about life. Whether you're being bombarded（攻击；质问）with problems,responsibilities,even insurmountable（不能克服的，不能超越的）difficulties, when looked at as a test, you always have a chance to succeed, in the sense of rising above that which is challenging you. If, on the other hand, you see each new issue you face as a serious battle that must be won in order to survive, you're probably in for a very rocky6 journey. The only time you're likely to be happy is when everything is working out just right. And we all know how often that happens.As an experiment, see if you can apply this idea to something you are forced to deal with. Perhaps you have much pressure from your parents or you have a demanding7 boss. See if you can redefine the issue you face from being a “ problem” to being a test. Rather than8 stru ggling with your issue, see if there is som ething you can learn from it. Ask yourself, “ Why is this an issue in my life? What would it mean and what would be involved to rise above it? Could I possibly look at this issue any differently? Can I see it as a test of some kind?”If you give this strategy a try you may be surprised at your changed responses. It has become far more acceptable to me to accept things as they are.1.According to the passage,what is the author's attitude towards life?A.He takes his life seriously.B.He considers life as test.C.He knows where to go and what to do.B.He thinks life is full of humorous wisdom.2.When you begin to consider life as a test,you will find _____.A.you are bombarded with problems and responsibilitiesB.the result of the test is so good that you are delightedC.you have many opportunities to growD.you have to go to school to take tests everyday3.Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the author?A.When you look at life as a test,you have a chance to overcome problems you face.B.When you take life seriously,you are more likely to succeed and become happy.C.When you see each problem as a serious battle,you have more chance to survive.D.When everything is working out just right,you can know how often it happens.4.It is implied from the passage that you'd better look at life as a test when_____.A.you try to get the meaning of the posterB.your parents give you much pressureC.you are carrying out an experimentD.you are in a rocky journey5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?A.My Favorite PosterB.Take Life SeriouslyC.Face Challenge of LifeD.Life Is Only A Test六级阅读训练（7）Scholars and students have always been great travelers. The official case for “academic mobility” is now often stated in impr essive terms as a fundamental necessity for economic and social progress in the world, and debated in the corridors of Europe, but it is certainly nothing new. Serious students were always ready to go abroad in search of the most stimulating teachers and the most famous academies; in search of the purest philosophy,Mobility of this kind meant also mobility of ideas, their transference across frontiers, their simultaneous impact upon many groups of people. The point of learning is to share it, whether with students or with colleagues; one presumes that only eccentrics have no interest in being credited with a starling discovery, or a new technique. It must also have been reassuring to know that other people in other parts of the world were about to make the same discovery or were thinking along the same lines, and that one was not quite alone, confronted by inquisition, ridicule oIn the twentieth century, and particularly in the last 20 years, the old footpaths of the wandering scholars have become vast highways. The vehicle which has made this possible has of course been the aeroplane, making contact between scholars even in the most distant places immediately feasible, and providing for the vApart from the vehicle itself, it is fairly easy to identify the main factors which have brought about the recent explosion in academic movement. Some of these are purely quantitative and require no further mention: there are far more centres of learning, and a far greater number of scholars andIn addition one must recognize the very considerable multiplication of disciplines, particularly in the sciences, which by widening the total area of advanced studies has produced an enormous number of specialists whose particular interests are precisely defined. These people would work in1.It can be concluded from the passage that"academic mobility"_____.A.means the friendship formed by scholars on the tripB.is a program initiated by governmentsC.has been put great emphasis on in the worldD.means going abroad in search of the best teacher2.The word "eccentric" in the second paragraph most probably means_____.A.a rather strange personB.a person of no exceptional abilityC.an ambitious personD.peculiar or unusual3.In the eyes of the author,what happens to a scholar who shares his ideas with his colleagues?A.He risks his ideas being stolen.B.He gains recognition for his achievementC.He is considered as an eccentric.D.He is credited with a startling discovery.4.According to the passage,the recent growth in air travel has meant that_____.A.travel around the world becomes realistic and affordableB.more students from remote areas can attend universitiesC.all kinds of information can be shared by more peopleD.scholars can meet each other more easily5.The author thinks that it's important for scholars to be able to travel because_____.A.their laboratories ate in remote placesB.there is too much stress at universitiesC.their fellow experts are scattered around the worldD.there are so many people working in similar fields六级阅读训练（8）Look at the keyboard of any standard typewriter or computer. "Q," "W," "E," "R," "T" and "Y" are the first six letters. Who decided on this arrangement of the letters? And why?People tried for centuries to invent the typewriter. In 1714 in England, Henry Mill filed a patent for a machine called An Artificial Machine or Methodfor the Impressing or Transcribing of Letters, Singly or Progressively one after another, as in Writing, whereby all Writing whatsoever may be Engrossed in Paper or Parchment so Neat and Exact as not to be dis tinguished from Print. That machine probably didn’ t sell because no one could remember its name!The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. His machine was known as the type-writer. It had a movable carriage, a lever for turning paper from line to line, and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in alphabetical order.But Sholes had a problem. On his first model, his "ABC" key arrangement caused the keys to jam when the typist worked quickl y. Sholes didn’ t know how to keep the keys from sticking, so his solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast.Sholes asked his brother-in-law to rearrange the keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine.The new arrangement was the QWERTY arrangement typists use today. Of course, Sholes claimed that the new arrangement was scientific and would add speed and efficiency. The only efficiency it added was to slow the typist down, since almost any word in the English language required the typist’ s fingers to cover more distance on the keyboard.The advantages of the typewriter outweighed the disadvantages of the keyboard. Typists memorized the crazy letter arrangement, and the typewriter became a huge success. By the time typists had memorized the new arrangement of letters and built their speed, typewriter technology had improved, and the keys didn’ t stick as badly as they had at first.Questions 1 to 5 are based on the passage above.1.We know from the passage that the inventor of the first practical typewriter is_____.A.Henry MillB.Christopher Latham SholesC.Sholes’brother-in-lawD.Allbert Einstein2.The author thinks the machine invented by Henry Mill could not be sold because_____.A.it was difficult for people to accept new thingsB.there were great disadvantages of the keyboardC.the machine could not be distinguished from printD.the name of the machine was too long3.Sholes decided the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboard in order to___.A.arrange the letters in alphabetical orderB.cause the keys to jam when the typist worked quicklyC.solve the problem of the keys jamming pete with "ABC" key arrangement4.It is inferred that the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboard_____.A.is the most scientific arrangementB.adds speed and efficiency of typistsC.keeps the typist from typing too fastD.is easy for typists to memorize5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?A.The Arrangement of The Letters on KeyboardB.The Story of Christopher Latham SholesC.How to Invent The TypewriterD.The First Practical Typewriter六级阅读训练（9）Feminist sociolinguists(社会语言学家),over the course of the last few decades,have conducted studies that they believe support the conclusion that women are routinely discriminated against in Endlish-speaking society.They point to the words used to describe women,as well as the words used to describe society as a whole,as indications that the English language ,and therefore the English-speaking culture,is slanted towards the advantage of males.The words used to describe women are used as instrument by feminist sociolinguists to denote an inherent sexism in the English language.Word pairs such as master and mistress and sir and madam,they claim ,epitomize such sexism.All of the words in question once held positive connotations but,while the masculine (男性的)forms have retained their respectable associations,the feminine forms have undergone pejoration and now imply sexual promiscuity(混杂) and other negative characteristics.Feminist researchers assume that such pejoration indicate that the status of women in English-speaking society is relatively low.These researchers also find fault with the use of masculine words to describe unisex entities .For example ,they feel that there is nothing inherently mainly about mankind, the best man for the job,or the common man.Similarly,the use of such constructions as the “t he average students is worrie d about his grades” indicate to these researchers an inherent sexism in English that is reflective of the cultures in which t hey are produced .Carolyn Jacobson ,author of Non-sexist Language has proposed a solution to this conundrum(难题).She advocates the elimination of all sexed words in favor of gender-neutral terms.No longer should we refer to actors and actresses or waiters and waitresses, as such dichotomies(男女有别)。
